Car-door lock



Sept. 18, 1928.

J. P. WARD z-:T AL

CAR DOOR LOCK Filed April 4, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet L l 'l Sept. 18, 1928. 1,684,980 J. P. WARD ET AL CAR DooR Loox Filed April 4. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2 Patented Sept. 18, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,684,980 PATENT' OFFICE.

:roHN 1. WARD, oF CLEVELAND, AND EoBEE'r E. HYDE, 0E CLEVELAND HEIoHms, oHIo, AssIeNons or ONE-THIRD To HAEEY J. GREEN, or CLEVELAND, omo.-

CAR-DOOB LOCK.

Application med April 4, 192'?. Serial No. 180,657.

acter that acts automatically to lock the door when the latter 'is moved to closed position and which is adapted to be released by power means whose actu-'ating medium is con veniently accessible only to authorized per- 0 sons.

A further object is to provide a lock for freight car doors that is very compact and that is designed to be so mounted 1n ad]acent .parts of the door and door frame as not to offer obstructions on which objects may catch when passed through the door opening.

Other objects are to provide al lock of the aforesaid character that is very strong and durable and is practically immune from d1s order; that is. simple and relatively inexpensive, and is adapted to beoperated from a point remote from the location of the lock; that incorporates electrical means for actuating the locking head and which involves separable connections of such a nature as wlll avoid arcing within the car structure and thus eliminate the danger of fire from such cause;

vthat includes, also, pressure fluid means for actuating the lookin head, the presence of which does not inter ere in any way with the operation of the electrical means (it being understood, however, that, so far as certain phases of the invention are concerned, either or both of these actuating means, or in some cases a substitute therefor, may be employed) and, further, to provide a lock of the aforesaid class that allows for a certain amount of sagging or excessive movement of the door with respect to the c ar body, such abnormal conditions being not unusual 1n rolling stock of the kind under consideration. The foregoing objects, with other and more limited ones hereinafter appearing, are attained in the embodiments of our inventlon illustrated in `the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of parts of the car door and b ody in the vicinity of the lock', the section belng takensubstantially on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 1s a horizontal section on the correspondingly numbered line of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail on the lines 3 3 of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fi 1 of a modification of the invention; and F1g`. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, the latter v1ew bein on a somewhat enlarged scale.

In the rawings, the car door is designated 1 and, in'laccordance with common practice, its edge is bound by a metal angle 2. The door 1s slldably mounted upon the side of the car body and, when in closed position, the angle 2 reposes within a Z-bar 3 which is secured by bolts 4 to the door post 5. The s1d1ng 6 andthe lining 7 of the car body are fastened to the post, the latter being rabbetted for the reception of the ends of said siding and lining. The post 5 is mortised along its outer side adjacent the door opening for the accommodation of the lock that is designated generally by the reference numeral 10, and the. door 1 is shown as having a depression on lts inner side for the accommodation of a base or plate 11 from which a latch member 12 proJects inwardly. The plate or base 11 is secured to the door by bolts 13 which have nuts 1 4 applied to their inner ends, and the plate 1s preferably recessed for the accommodation of said nuts. While we do not regard 1t so essential that the base or plate 11 be set within the door, we do prefer to counterbore the holes that `accommodate the bolts 13 and extend into said counterbores depressed portions 15 of the plate so as to prevent any shearing strains being imposed on the bolts which might be the case if the plate 11 were engaged against the inner surface of the door.

The lock 10 is comprised of a casing that is made up of inner and outer members 18 and 19, respectively, that are angular in cross section, as best shown in Fig. 2, and said members have registering-apertured ears 18 and 19a through which bolts are extended -for holding the members together and for securing the lock within the morti'se of the post. Certain of the bolts 4 that hold the Z-bar 3 in position are utilized-for holding the casing members together on one side, the bolts which cooperate with-the inner lugs of the casing being designated 20 and extending at right angles to the former bolts 4. Mounted within the casing at about the longitudinal center is a housing consisting of an angular wall 21 and end walls 22 and 23. A Cshaped locking head 25 is reciprocable within said housingl and the same involves a nose 26 whose outer surface is inclined downwardly and inwardly for cooperation with the advancing inclined surface of the latch member 12. The

from the locking head'25 through an aperture inthe end wall 22 and constitutes the movable core of a solenoid 29. lVhen this lsolenoid is energized the stem 28 is attracted upwardly so as to elevate the locking head and retract its. nose 26 aboveV the upper edge of the latch member 12 thereby to release the door.

This same result may be accomplished by pneumatic means which we shall now describe. Occupying the casing 10 below .the

15 wall 23 isal cylinder 3() within which a pisj ton 31 reclprocates, and a rod 32 that is carried by the piston is projected through an opening 1n the wall 23'in a position to strike the base of the locking head 25. Accordingly, when compressed air or other pressure luid is introduced into the lowerend ofthe cylinder 30, it will lift the piston and, through theintervention of the rod 32, elevate the locking head so as to release the latch member 12 in the same manner as above described.

A spring 33 is interposed between the piston 31 and the wall 23 and is of suilicient power to overcome the friction of the piston with the cylinder wall and depress the former when #o the pressure fluid is released from the cylinder.

Current is supplied to the solenoid 29 through a cable 35, and pressure fluid is conveyed to the cylinder 3Q through a pipe 36. ounted upon the car body in any convenient location is a 4terminal plate 38.. The pipe 36 and the conductor 35 are led to the termi-V nal plate 38 and the former is connected to it in any suitable manner so that a hose couuch a connection is acommon mechanical expedient and therefore speciic illustration is deemed unnecessary. Set within a boss of the plate 38 is a terminal block 40 of insulating material enclosing split .sleeves 41 of usual form whichhave binding posts at their inner ends to which the wires of the cable are secured. The sleeves ,41 receive pins 42 which are carried by a head 45 on the end of a cable 46that may lead from a portable bat# tery or any other suitable source of current. The head incorporates a standard push button switch, the button of which is designated 47. By this means the connect-ions are pins 42 and after the connection is made the push button 47 ma be depressed to close the switch and intro uce current through the connections'to the winding of the solenoid 29. This arrangement avoids any possibility of an arc occurring within the installation in 'the car body which might result in a fire or explosion if iniammable material or explosives were in the car. j Ordinarily the air and ling may be applied to the end of the pipe.

made between the head and the terminal block 40 while the current 'is cut oit from thel electric terminals that are carried b the plate 38 are shielded by a cover 48 t at is pivoted at 49 to the plate, and adjacent its free edge the cover has an opening 50 through which a plug 51 projects when the plate is 1n closed position, said lug having a perforation for the application of the wire of a freight car. seal.

Asvabove explained, when the door 1 is slid to closed position the, latch member 12 engages the nose 26 of the locking head 25 and lifts said head until the latch member passes the vertical plane of the nose when the head drops with its nose to the rear of the latch member and secures the door to closed position. When it isdesired to open ythe car, the cover 48 is raised and, if the operator' uses electricity for operating the lock, he

plugs the pins 42 of the head 45 into the sock-i ets of the terminal block 40 and presses the button 47 thereby to transmit current to the winding of the solenoid 29 through the cable 35.- Upon being thus energized, the' solenoid attracts upwardly the stem 28 and elevates the locking head to release the latch member 12 when the door may be slid to open position. The side of the door frame op osite the one containing the lock 10 is pre erably recessed for the accommodation of the latch member 12 when the door is fully open so that the door may be moved entirely out of register with the door opening and thus render the entire area of the door opening available for loading and unloading purposes. This is such an obvious feature that specific illustration is thought to be unnecessary. In this connection, attention is called to the fact that the lock involves no protruding parts on which objects might accidentally catch.

The electric current for operating the lock may be obtained from any suitable source, it being our intention that the operators authorlzed to open the cars be supplied with portable batteries each of which 1s equipped with a cable 46. f

When pressure fluid is used to operate the least likely to be tampered with unnoticed by the train crew.

The modification illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 diiers from that above described principally in the location of the pressure der. Here the cylinder, desi located above the solenoid an the same is fluid cylm` ated 55, is

provided with a central tube 56 through which a pin 57 of brass or other non-magnetic material extends, the vlower end of the pin being screwed into the stem which constitutes the core of the solenoid. The pin-has a head 581that is adapted to be engaged by the upper end of a sleeve 59 that terminates at its lower end in an annular piston 60 that operates within the cylinder. A head 61 is screwed or otherwise secured to the upper end of the cylinder, and a sprin 62 is compressed between said head and t e piston. The remaining parts of the structure are designated by the same reference characters as are applied to thje corresponding elements of the previously described embodiment. When the solenoid 29 of the present form of the invention is energized it attracts the stem 28 u wardly thereby to lift the locking head 25,`an during this operation the pin 57 rises throu h the upper end of the sleeve 59. On the ot er hand, when pressure fluid is admitted to the cylinder 55 it lifts the piston 60 with its sleeve59 and the latter, engaging the head 58, lifts the pin 57, the stem 28 and the locking head 25.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. A lock of the class set forth comprising va casing havingan olpeninin its side, a'locking head of materia len vhaving a sliding lit within the casing an restricted thereby to a vertical movement, a latch member adapted ,to be projected through said opening into the casing for interlockingenagement with the locking head, a stem on sai locking head, and a solenoid whose core is constituted of said stem mounted within thecasing.

2. A lock of the class set forth comprising ca casing havingl an opening in its side, a C- sha ed locking ead having a sliding fit within t e casing and having a depending nose on the side corresponding to the open side of the C, a latch member ada ted to be projected through the opening in t e casing and engage the nose of the locking head, the latch member co-acting with the nose in-the nature of 4a cam to lift the locking head as the'member enters the casing, thehead dropping by gravity to dispose the nose on the rear side of the latch member, and means for elevating the locking head.v f

3. A lock of the class set forth comprising a casing having walls that are disposed at substantially right angles to each other and provided with an openingl which occupies parts of both walls, a plate aving a laterally extending latch member that is adapted to be projected through said opening by movement of the plate in a plane substantially parallel with one of said walls, a substanially C- shaped locking head reciprocrable within the caslng in the region of said opening and having a dependlng nose on the side corresponding to the open side of the C, the latch member being designed to cooperate with said nose in the nature of a cam to elevate the locking head as said member enters the casing, the

head dropping by gravity to project saidnose to the -rear of the latch member-,fand

means for elevating the locking head.

4. A lock of the class set forth comprising a casing having an opening in its side, a locking head reciprocable within the casing, a latch member adapted to -be projected through the opening in the casin for interlocking engagement 'with the loc ing head, .and two power units that are adapted to 'act independently of each other for liftin the locklng head thereby toA release the lato member.

5. In a lock of the class set forth, the combination of a casing comprising opposed members, each member being angular in cross section and fitting together in opposed relation so as to eiiect a rectan ular cross section for the casing, the oppose casing members having registering parts through which the members are adapted to be secured together',`

the casing having an o ening in its side, a locking head reclprocab e within the casing in the region of said openin a latch member adapted to be projected through said opening for interlocking engagement with the locking head, and means for reciprocating the lockin head.

6.,A loc of the class set forth comprising a two part longitudinally divided casing having an opening in its side, 4means for securing the two parts of the casing together, a housing disposed within the ca'sing in the region of said opening, the top wall of the housing having an aperturea lockinghead having a sliding tit within the housing, a latch member adapted to be projected through the 'opening in the casin for interlocking' engagement with the loc 'ng head, a stem rising from the locking head and extending through the aperture 1n the top wall of the'housing, and a solenoid surmounting said top wall and whose core is constituted of said stem.

7. Alock of the class set forth comprising a two part longitudinally divided casing having an opening 1n its side, means for securing the parts of the casing together, a housing'disposed within the caslng 1n the region of said j opening, the bottom wall of the housing havlng an aperture, a lockinghead having a sliding iit within said houslng, a latch member ada ted to be projected through the opening in t e casing for interlocking engagement with the locking head, a pressure fluid cylinder occupying the lower portion of the casing, a piston within said cylinder, and a rod rising from said lpiston and arranged to be projected through t e aperture in the bottom wall of the housing for lifting the locking head.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto aiix our signatures.

JOHN P. WARD. ROBERT E. HYDE. 

